Some Concerned About Car Computers’ Effect On Privacy

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BALTIMORE (WJZ) – Connecting to the web on the road is a convenience that could be harming us. What is saved and shared has people concerned.

Drivers rely on their car computers for maintenance checks and even directions—but it’s where and how that information is stored that has many asking questions.

How your car is driven, where you go and who you text may all be recorded—and that has many drivers uncomfortable.

“I would definitely want to know about it first and see what the implications would be before I would allow it to be put in my car,” said driver Pete Christofferson.

AAA says most drivers are unaware that companies are collecting vast amounts of private information.

“I think I should have that right to know where information is going, when it’s going to go, how it’s going and it certainly shouldn’t be a surprise,” said driver Cate Murphy.

That is why civil liberty groups like the ACLU and driver advocacy groups like AAA got involved to protect consumers and demand transparency.

“We think this is the next generation cause that we should be working on on behalf of motorists,” said Bernhard Koch, CEO of AAA Mid-Atlantic.

AAA predicts that in the next 10 years, all cars will be connected to the web—and they want drivers to be in control of that information.

“And we really want to make sure it’s being shared and saved and only given to those that you, in fact, have the ability to say, `Yes, I want it to go there,'” Koch said.

The ACLU says technology is evolving faster than the ability of the legal system to catch up and there’s a need for lawmakers to step in and act in order to protect people’s privacy before corporations gain too much access.

“Which they will then be able to do with as they wish in ways that can significantly impact and hurt us,” said ACLU Attorney David Rocah.

Another issue brought up by the ACLU is when and if the government will have access to that information and what they’ll use it for.

There is also the concern that if a data breach occurred, people may not know what information will be made available.